As more grown-up kids stay in the family home, a new parenting dilemma arises: When should you start charging them board?

The number of twenty-something kids staying in the family home has risen above 50 per cent – so at what age should parents start insisting they pay their way?

What price should young people put on staying home with the parentals?

Should they be free to earn as much as they like, luxuriating in free meals, a room of their own and all their washing done? Or should they start paying their way the minute they start earning a dollar?

New data shows more people aged 18 to 29 are still living at home with their parents, with the numbers of young adults failing to fly the family nest increasing dramatically over time.

Two decades ago, 47 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women that age still lived at home, but now it’s increased to 54 per cent of men and 47 per cent of women, according to University of Melbourne HILDA data.

No wonder more families are trying to work out how much young people should pay, especially once they’re old enough to hold down a proper job.

A 16-year-old posed this question in an online chat group, asking whether it’s fair that his parents asked him to pay them $100 a week.

The male teen said he had just started as a school-based apprentice and wondered “if I should argue for less board to pay or not?”

He noted that his family situation is very comfortable. “When I asked my mum what she will do with the money, she said that she would use it for enjoyment,” he wrote.

Many parents thought asking $100 a week from a 16-year-old still at school was “taking advantage”.

“Unless you’re working full time, I would say that is too much. I have kids who are 21 and 19 and unless they’re working full-time I wouldn’t charge that,” one responded.

Another agreed it was “a bit shit to take your kids’ first $$$ when they are only 16, but at $100 a week you’re barely covering groceries these days”.

Another said taking $100 off a minor was “unfair given the economy these days”.

“That’s nearly 5 grand a year that could go into a savings account for OPs future car, loan payoff for tools if he had to buy any or a down payment for a house or flat down the line. I think it’d be a fair arrangement, if OPs parents would put it away for later.”

OP stands for Original Poster, the 16-year-old who started the chat.

Aussie mums and dads are split on when to start charging adult children board – and how much is appropriate.

One response came from a parent who said that when her 17-year-old son started to earn $750 a week, she told him it was time for him to “pay for your phone, Xbox and other entertainment etc”.

The loving parent said they drove their son to work and picked him up every day, which is usually a one-hour round trip.

“I expect him to contribute to the fuel. But that’s all. He’s 17,” the parent wrote.

In response, another commentator noted that the parents should be “charging in line with Uber rates”.

Others suggested parents could charge board but then put it away to be paid to the teen when they move out. But this doesn’t always go to plan.

“My in-laws told my brother-in-law they were doing this. Then never gave him the money. Decided he ate too much and spent too long in the shower,” one person said.

Another parent said they charged their daughter board when she turned 18 and believe this taught her responsibility.

“When she shopped for things, she thought about if she really wanted it instead of just expecting me to pay for it. We didn’t live comfortably, but when she wanted a car I paid the deposit using the money I collected from her. A little gesture to help her out,” they said.

It’s a tough life as a twenty-something stuck in the family home when mum and dad are still paying the bills ...

Others suggested the teen could put the money aside himself.

“OP could suggest that, instead of paying $100 a week into Mum & Dad, they could be depositing it into an incentivised savings account, so it could be earning interest, plus bonus interest, and building a good life skill/habit to continue after leaving school,” they suggested.

Other parents put a percentage value on the board paid by kids.

“My old man worked for the bank back in the day, and the board rate for all us kids was set at 10 per cent. When I was 14 and washing dishes on the weekend I would earn $100, and had to give my dad $10,” they said.

Others said it depended on the financial circumstances of the family.

“Absolutely depends on their income. We are currently low income due to my chronic illness, and we will do everything we can to house and feed our daughter until she has a solid job, and hope we can support her through uni (she wants to study a language). But, if she does end up with a casual or part time job we’d probably have to ask for some dollars towards her food. Even $50 a week would make a huge difference to us,” one contributor said.

So is $100 too much for a 16-year-old school-based apprentice to pay his parents, or is he lucky to be paying so little?

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Originally published as As more grown-up kids stay in the family home, a new parenting dilemma arises: When should you start charging them board?